I'm the owner/occupier of the upper flat in a converted Victorian semi
whose freehold I co-own with the owner of the ground floor flat. The two-semis as built made the typical T-shape. He's got planning
permission to extend his flat in both length and breadth, to give it the
same width as the front part of the house and it's going to involve
partial removal of a structural wall. I've no right to use any part
of the back garden that will be built over. A PWA surveyor has been appointed.
I did launch a thread about this on 28/3/22, at <https://groups.google.com/g/uk.legal.moderated/c/WaB2vXAN1hg/m/GAEqFd2WAgAJ>.
That drifted into one sub-issue, and the thing got put in
abeyance for a year anyway, given my lack of approval for the project.
I'd now appreciate any input on these issues.
1) Engagement of solicitors for advice/oversight re the Licence to Alter
that I'm asked to approve. Though not aiui liable for costs, I'm open to keeping them down by using an out-of-London firm with
a good level of expertise and helpfulness. Any advice on how to
confidently find such a firm on the web? Feel free to email me.
2) I'm uncertain as to whether I need a surveyor at any stage, for
either preliminary vetting and suggestions, or subsequent checking
of work-in-progress. Might it be enough, at least during the
actual work, if it happens that there is a competent qualified professional overseeing the whole operation, with whom I can speak?
3) I'd presume that, as co-freeholder, I'm entitled to more or less
all information about the development and to be kept 'in the loop',
short of making a nuisance of myself or pretending to have control,
when it's underway. Is that the case?
On 26/04/2023 13:42, tiny hadron wrote:
I'm the owner/occupier of the upper flat in a converted Victorian semi
whose freehold I co-own with the owner of the ground floor flat. The
two-semis as built made the typical T-shape. He's got planning
permission to extend his flat in both length and breadth, to give it the
same width as the front part of the house and it's going to involve
partial removal of a structural wall. I've no right to use any part
of the back garden that will be built over. A PWA surveyor has been
appointed.
I did launch a thread about this on 28/3/22, at
<https://groups.google.com/g/uk.legal.moderated/c/WaB2vXAN1hg/m/GAEqFd2WAgAJ>.
That drifted into one sub-issue, and the thing got put in
abeyance for a year anyway, given my lack of approval for the project.
I'd now appreciate any input on these issues.
1) Engagement of solicitors for advice/oversight re the Licence to Alter
that I'm asked to approve. Though not aiui liable for costs, I'm open to
keeping them down by using an out-of-London firm with
a good level of expertise and helpfulness. Any advice on how to
confidently find such a firm on the web? Feel free to email me.
2) I'm uncertain as to whether I need a surveyor at any stage, for
either preliminary vetting and suggestions, or subsequent checking
of work-in-progress. Might it be enough, at least during the
actual work, if it happens that there is a competent qualified professional >> overseeing the whole operation, with whom I can speak?
3) I'd presume that, as co-freeholder, I'm entitled to more or less
all information about the development and to be kept 'in the loop',
short of making a nuisance of myself or pretending to have control,
when it's underway. Is that the case?
To just extend the lower flat the owner of the lower flat will incur
costs supporting your outside walls and you might not want to be living
in the flat whilst this is done.
Perhaps you could mention to the owner of the lower flat that you will
may only agree to the extension if he pays for both floors to be
extended with a suitable roof.
On 26/04/2023 13:42, tiny hadron wrote:
I'm the owner/occupier of the upper flat in a converted Victorian semi
whose freehold I co-own with the owner of the ground floor flat. The
two-semis as built made the typical T-shape. He's got planning
permission to extend his flat in both length and breadth, to give it the
same width as the front part of the house and it's going to involve
partial removal of a structural wall. I've no right to use any part
of the back garden that will be built over. A PWA surveyor has been
appointed.
I did launch a thread about this on 28/3/22, at
<https://groups.google.com/g/uk.legal.moderated/c/WaB2vXAN1hg/m/GAEqFd2WAgAJ>.
That drifted into one sub-issue, and the thing got put in
abeyance for a year anyway, given my lack of approval for the project.
I'd now appreciate any input on these issues.
1) Engagement of solicitors for advice/oversight re the Licence to Alter
that I'm asked to approve. Though not aiui liable for costs, I'm open to >> keeping them down by using an out-of-London firm with
a good level of expertise and helpfulness. Any advice on how to
confidently find such a firm on the web? Feel free to email me.
2) I'm uncertain as to whether I need a surveyor at any stage, for
either preliminary vetting and suggestions, or subsequent checking
of work-in-progress. Might it be enough, at least during the
actual work, if it happens that there is a competent qualified
professional
overseeing the whole operation, with whom I can speak?
3) I'd presume that, as co-freeholder, I'm entitled to more or less
all information about the development and to be kept 'in the loop',
short of making a nuisance of myself or pretending to have control,
when it's underway. Is that the case?
To just extend the lower flat the owner of the lower flat will incur
costs supporting your outside walls and you might not want to be living
in the flat whilst this is done.
Perhaps you could mention to the owner of the lower flat that you will
may only agree to the extension if he pays for both floors to be
extended with a suitable roof.
2) I'm uncertain as to whether I need a surveyor at any stage, for
either preliminary vetting and suggestions, or subsequent checking
of work-in-progress. Might it be enough, at least during the
actual work, if it happens that there is a competent qualified professional overseeing the whole operation, with whom I can speak?
tiny hadron <tinyhadron@gmail.com> wrote:
2) I'm uncertain as to whether I need a surveyor at any stage, for
either preliminary vetting and suggestions, or subsequent checking
of work-in-progress. Might it be enough, at least during the
actual work, if it happens that there is a competent qualified professional >> overseeing the whole operation, with whom I can speak?
I have no experience here so I can't answer your other questions, but this would make me feel uneasy. A builder is looking after their own interest primarily: they want to get the job done as fast as possible. Building control is purely to check it meets building regs. A project manager is looking out for the interest of their client.
None of whom are looking after your interests and ready to say 'whoa there, hold on here', which it sounds like it's what you could need. So I suppose it comes down to whether you have the skills to oversee works yourself, or
if you need to employ somebody to fight your corner. I would expect
building control gives you some confidence the build won't actually be illegal or fall down, but they aren't looking for anything that might
impinge on your rights.
On 26 Apr 2023 at 16:54:55 BST, Michael Chare wrote:
Perhaps you could mention to the owner of the lower flat that you will
may only agree to the extension if he pays for both floors to be
extended with a suitable roof.
I'd be pushing for that if it were me (and I had the money), although I'm not sure I'd put it quite so bluntly.
A single storey extension will amongst other things limit future expansion possibilities of your home - I'd imagine the external wall's foundations would
not be designed for upper floors for example. And doing it cooperatively could
save you both some money, and give you better oversight.
Plus you'd benefit from a bit of land grab :-)
On 26/04/2023 21:00, Theo wrote:
tiny hadron <tinyhadron@gmail.com> wrote:
2) I'm uncertain as to whether I need a surveyor at any stage, for
either preliminary vetting and suggestions, or subsequent checking
of work-in-progress. Might it be enough, at least during the
actual work, if it happens that there is a competent qualified
professional
overseeing the whole operation, with whom I can speak?
I have no experience here so I can't answer your other questions, but
this
would make me feel uneasy. A builder is looking after their own interest >> primarily: they want to get the job done as fast as possible. Building
control is purely to check it meets building regs. A project manager is
looking out for the interest of their client.
None of whom are looking after your interests and ready to say 'whoa
there,
hold on here', which it sounds like it's what you could need. So I
suppose
it comes down to whether you have the skills to oversee works
yourself, or
if you need to employ somebody to fight your corner. I would expect
building control gives you some confidence the build won't actually be
illegal or fall down, but they aren't looking for anything that might
impinge on your rights.
I would have thought party wall legislation was intended to include this
type of work, where the neighbour proposing the work has to foot any
bill for surveyors and reports on behalf of the OP.
RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
On 26 Apr 2023 at 16:54:55 BST, Michael Chare wrote:
Perhaps you could mention to the owner of the lower flat that you will
may only agree to the extension if he pays for both floors to be
extended with a suitable roof.
I'd be pushing for that if it were me (and I had the money), although I'm not
sure I'd put it quite so bluntly.
A single storey extension will amongst other things limit future expansion >> possibilities of your home - I'd imagine the external wall's
foundations would
not be designed for upper floors for example.
And doing it cooperatively could
save you both some money, and give you better oversight.
Plus you'd benefit from a bit of land grab :-)
If you were doing that I'd think carefully about whose responsibility the >roof is. If it's purely an extension for downstairs it's their problem, but >presumably it's shared if it's also for your extension. But maybe worth it >if you get the extra space?
Also, I wonder if planning would be more difficult to get with a two storey >extension?
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